


'Prime Factors' - 1x10

by raktajinos



Series: Delta Drabbles - a Rewatch Challenge [10]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Angst, Female Character of Color, Female Friendship, Gen, Technobabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-08
Updated: 2013-08-08
Packaged: 2017-12-22 20:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/917805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raktajinos/pseuds/raktajinos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>B'elanna works on the stolen alien tech and worries about her fractured relationship with Janeway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	'Prime Factors' - 1x10

**Author's Note:**

> I actually quite like this episode; I like things where the 'Starfleet Way' is challenged when suddenly they are on the other side of their own rules. And the whole crisis of judgement with Tuvok and B'elanna. And anything that allows Mulgrew to let out the fiery angry side of Janeway is something I love. I might also write a more AU J/C kinda thingy for this episode too.
> 
> note: I have no science background whatsoever, so my technobabble might be wrong

B'elanna stared at the useless piece of technology on her work desk; she'd been staring at it for the past few hours, way past the end of the shift until she was all but alone, the quiet hum of the warp core keeping her company. There were a few engineers on duty, but they went about their business and left B'elanna to her own thoughts. 

They'd risked so much to get this device, they'd put all their hopes into it, justifying the Captain's rage for cutting a few decades off their journey. And she was mad, livid even. Apparently Tuvok had gotten the brunt of her wrath, but her and the other staff had had holodeck privileges taken away for a month as a consequence. B'elanna had never seen her so angry or disappointed. It was the disappointment that really stung. 

In the few months she'd been working for Janeway, she'd never once disappointed her and B'elanna had found a surprising amount of pride in her work. She'd always enjoyed working on ships, but never within a Starfleet system, but the Captain never expected her to fail and they'd actually started to develop a friendship of sorts. 

And now she'd have to start back at step one with her. 

The Captain had let her keep the device, despite her wishes to destroy it. Tuvok argued that the crime had already been committed so it was "illogical" to destroy the technology. After the longest glacial stare from the Captain, she relented, allowing B'elanna to keep it and study it. 

Which is what she'd spent every night for the past three days doing; taking it apart, reassembling it, trying to understand _how_ it worked. 

"How's it going?" a voice asked from behind her, startling B'elanna. She turned to see the Captain leaning against the door frame of her office.

It wasn't unusual for her to be here, it had become somewhat of a habit for them to meet up in engineering late into the night - both of them being addicted to their work mixed with frequent bouts of insomnia. It was how they had begun building a friendship, working on niche projects or small problems. But B'elanna hadn't seen her since the _incident_. 

She looked up at her Captain, nothing on her face gave way to what she was thinking, but B'elanna didn't see any overt anger so she took that as a good sign. 

"It's going not too badly. I still have no idea how it works, but I know more than I did before" she said, her hands picking up pieces of the devices, "for example, I know the device works on a cascading basis and not the more traditional 'fold' we originally thought and this," she said, shaking a small clear tube, "I'm pretty sure is responsible for producing the high frequency resonance required to instigate the cascade" . A frustrated look came over her face, "yet I still have no idea how it actually works."

Janeway moved to come closer to the desk, clearly intrigued with the project's progress, "can we turn this on?" she said, picking up the clear tube B'elanna held earlier. 

"Yes. Not sure if its the correct way to activate it, but we can"

"Well if it works on a cascading principle, could we power it up and compare the energy output to frequency modulation?" she suggested. 

B'elanna's eyes went bright with the suggestion, "I hadn't thought of that! Yes, lets try that". She smiled at the Captain, grateful for the suggestion but also for the olive branch she was extending.


End file.
